Re-write the narrative. Free the nipple.

My friend Mayowa, the editor and creator of Venus Magazine tasked me with creating images based on the Free the nipple campaign. Usually my work is tongue in cheek and especially in regards to movements like this one, but the challenge of drawing to a brief was something I wanted to accept!

As an art-historian, representations of the male and female body have always interested me and in particular the images and ideals that are perpetuated by the classical canon. So, in this work, I decided to mimic the classic torsos of white marble statues, forms which are heralded as ‘physical perfection’ and manipluate them to prove a point. The male figure as a nude is within the socially accepted area of the mustard circle, yet the female figure is outside social acceptance. Because of a tiny bit of skin that the male form has too! The Nipple!!